Summernats 26 attracts over 100,000 spectators

The 26th Street Machine Summernats, proudly supported by Rare Spares, has wrapped up today, with event organisers and the ACT police praising patron and event behaviour.

101,486 people attended the car event over four days in the Nation’s Capital, a strong increase from the 90,000 who came to Summernats 25. Entrant numbers were also up by over 15% last year, with a total of 1767.

“It’s been a fantastic event this year,” said event co-owner Andy Lopez. “It’s especially pleasing to see significant increases in the number of patrons buying season passes, which translates into longer stays in Canberra and a significant economic benefit to the Canberra economy.

“We were very pleased that the safety measures that we had put in place at the event to cope with the extreme heat over the weekend ensured that we had minimal incidents of patron heat stress.”

The ACT Police confirmed that this year’s event was arrest free, and they were not called in to intervene during any incidents. The Operational Commander for the event, Acting Superintendent Rod Anderson, said that given the size of the attendance, police were generally pleased with the crowd’s behaviour.

“Overall we were very happy with the patron and entrant behaviour at the Summernats this year, particularly with the large number of people in attendance,” Acting Superintendent Anderson said.

Summernats action

“The effective working relationship and cooperation between event organisers, police and ACT government directorates had been a significant contributor to the event’s success.”

Top car constructor and green homes builder Mick Fabar was the overall winner of Summernats 26, taking out the Grand Champion award. His 1967 model XR Falcon sedan was recognised as the best of the best by Summernats judges.